The quiet one: Todd Faircloth

It is the quiet ones who have the most to say.

“Whisper…”

Dateline: Silence

“If I win the AOY or the Classic I’m going to ask them to leave room on the trophy for my name, and my wife’s name too.”– Todd Faircloth

It is the quiet ones who have the most to say.

And the softer they speak, the more we need to listen.

The greatest interviews I have ever done have always, always began with one word answers. And the best of the best have always started with, “Uh-huh.”

“Todd, you doing okay out there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You are sitting in 3rd place, you have a shot at winning AOY this year.”

“Uh-huh.”

“How you feeling about it?”

I haven’t figured out how to put down what he said because he actually didn’t say anything, just kind of bobbed his head, raised his shoulders some and smiled at me.

And then he just stood there smiling.

I love that, because I know Todd and I know that in his own, quiet way he has in fact answered every question I just asked.

Todd gave an interview in that exchange, and it wasn’t in his words, it was in his smile.

As a reporter, when we do interviews, we spend most of our time with our heads down, not so much looking at the person, but looking at the notes we are writing. If we are using a tape recorder, I can tell you from experience that what I listen for is not so much the entirety of what you are saying, but the quote from what you are saying that I can use in my story.

I heard all of what you said, but I only focused in on a little of what you said…9 to 14 seconds to be exact.

The “soundbite.”

If you come to Todd Faircloth looking for “the soundbite,” you are going to be looking for a long time.

Look at his photo here…that smile…that is your soundbite. Let me tell you the exact question that got that smile and you will know then, what his answer was:

“Tell me dude, how’s your family, man? How’s mom and the kids?”

And here’s his answer:

Todd is a very subtle guy. When you see him on stage, he will answer any question you ask; they might not be real long answers but he will politely answer any question.

Then you ask about his family,

and his voice cracks,

and his eyes water,

and he takes a big gulp,

and it all happens in a split second, a tiny moment, and most people miss it, but that, my friends, is the true story of the quiet one.

Sure it is about the fish, but if you want to get to know Todd, if you want to get Todd to talk, if you want to find out how intelligent this guy is, how much of a deep thinker this guy is, you won’t get that by asking him, “how you caught ‘em?” You’ll find the real Todd by asking about:

…his faith…

…his family.

“I break up on stage, db, when I try to talk about my family, because I miss them so much. I have such a soft spot for my kids; they are near and dear to my heart. I wasn’t a very emotional guy until I had children; my kids gave me that soft spot. Whenever I talk about them…”

And, sitting across from me in a booth at dinner, once again…
…his voice cracked.

“…words…”

Hudson, 10, Harrison, 7, Helen Claire, 5.

“It’s best for them that they are back home in Jasper, Texas. They used to come out on the road with me and my wife, Angie, but Hudson and Harrison, the boys, are in school and playing baseball now and Helen Claire is involved in T-ball. I just don’t feel right uprooting them from that all the time.”

From here on there are no more “uh-huh’s”

Todd and I are sitting in a throw-back ‘50’s era diner, I figure he probably doesn’t know what half the stuff around us is about since he just told me he is all of 38 years old.

“Dude, you were like minus 2 years old when Barb and I got married.”

“God bless you, db, my father, Albert and my mom, Becky, have been married forever. I don’t know exactly how long, but forever, I’m looking to do the same.”

And then he goes silent, and I know why…his dad.

“How’s your father?”

Back at the last tournament on Cayuga Lake, on the last day, Todd’s wife Angie called him to tell him “…that my dad had just had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital.”

I’m not writing anything down now, I want to look Todd in the eyes, not down at my notebook.

“db, when she called I just dropped to my knees and I prayed. I prayed to God to please bless my father, please take care of my father, and I know that he would have my back. I knew he would.”

“Who would?”

“God.”

“…of…”

 

Family and faith is when the quiet one opens up.

“I always try to do my best out there on the water. I try my hardest to learn as much as I can, and then, then db, the rest is up to him.”

Him being God.

“I have 100% faith in him; he is the one who got me here in the first place…”

A side note here: I have been writing and reporting now for 25 years, maybe more, and for all those years, for all those interviews, I never once put the word “God” in a story. I still feel uncomfortable doing it. It may offend some; it may make others happy. I struggle with faith; you may, you may not, but I can not rightly do these guys stories and ignore how strong their faith in God is. So bear with me. When they speak of God, you will hear it, and maybe it will help you with your faith, and maybe, just maybe, it will bring faith, to me. Consider this full disclosure.

“…and I know db that when things go bad, I know God has a plan, and that it just wasn’t meant to be, just wasn’t my time…”

And that there is the 1,000-pound gorilla in the room.

“…wasn’t my time.”

Several years back, August 2008, Oneida Lake, Todd went into the last tourney of the season with a large lead on the Angler of the Year race.

“I just stunk it up then. db, it still stings.”

As a friend, not as a no-involvement journalist, I asked Todd if he wanted to talk about the last time he was this close to winning AOY. Todd is currently in 3rd place and could possibly win the AOY at this tournament. If he said he didn’t want to talk about it, I would have let it go, but it seems he…

“Losing that AOY really hurt, really hurt my wife, maybe even more so than it hurt me. But I think God had a plan, had a plan that would make me better.”

I’m the quiet one now.

“Back then, I was fishing more defensively. I don’t do that now. I don’t look back. Now, I fish to build the lead rather than defend the lead.”

I write down in my notebook exactly this: “Pre-Vent Defense sucks.”

“God has taught me that adversity helps. I’ve become much better at the mental side of the game now; I have the technical stuff down, but now I’m getting the mental stuff down as well. You know, db, back then, back then it just wasn’t my time. I put my faith in him and my time will come.”

“…wisdom…”

Comes faith, comes peace, within.

The greatest amongst us, the greatest people around us, those who do the greatest stuff, seem to be those who are at the most peace with themselves.

Is peace within faith?

Does faith bring peace within?

Is God peace within?

When the man who drives the bus comes to your stop, what will his questions be to you?

Will it be what size was your biggest Bass? I hope not.

Will it be what iron do you have up on the mantle? I hope not.

Or will it be, who are you and what is it that you will leave on the bus?

Our sport, our successes, will not be the answer he wants to hear. What is it that he will take as the answer to our legacy?

“db, I think it will be my kids, they will be the ones who define my legacy, not some trophy, not some win, but in the long run, in the long run…”

Then, once again, the quiet one’s voice cracks.

It is the voice crack that is the answer the man driving the bus wants to hear.

Listen for the voice cracks, that’s where a person’s true story will be found.

Because the voice crack, is always about…love.

And love is what the bus ride is all about.

“There will be an answer.”
Let It Be
The Beatles

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